Re:It’s Hard to Learn French in Middle Age
by 0815test on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @11:47AM
(#19788982)
You can also look up the individual IPA phonemes on Wiki, you'll find surprisingly extensive descriptions of how to physically sound them, and sometimes comparisons to close phonemes in other languages. This removes the "guessing" factor entirely, so the video is only there to perfect your speech and as a sanity check.
Pro tip from an immigrant who spent decade and a half trying to get good at English pronunciation - You need to practice in front of he mirror with a recorder and youtube nearby. Find a clip of french person saying a word or a sentence you're having trouble with and mimic them in front of the mirror. Again and again, try to see what muscle engaging on their face and do the same, think of what your tongue is doing. Remember you are building muscle memory and your tongue has literally never been in some of those shapes so you need to work it.
Pro tip two - find a pronunciation workshop or do a couple of sessions with a professional. Sounding like a native speaker is an incredible undertaking, but you'd probably be satisfied with being 75% there frankly.